Concealed weapon



Nov. 28, 1967 A. J. RIZZO, JR

CONCEALED WEAPON Original Filed July 9, 1964 FIG. 3

FIG.

FIG. 2

INVENTOR. 22 ANGELO J RIZZO. JR.

AT TORNEV Fatented Nov. 28, 1967 6 Claims. (Cl. 42-1) My invention relates to weapons generally and specifically to a concealed weapon simulating a spotlight and storage battery.

Police otficers are confronted with a dilemma when approaching a suspect at night. In the daylight, the suspect can be approached in such a manner that his hands can be seen clearly. However, at night, even with a flashlight, a suspect can rarely be seen clearly. All too frequently, the oflicer finds himself confronted with a suspect with a drawn revolver or some other Weapon. The ofiicer, without a revolver in his hand, is at the mercy of the suspect and, occasionally, police ofiicers have been shot and killer without warning.

The solution lies in approaching the suspect at night with more than merely a flashlight, but, in addition thereto, a drawn revolver aimed at the suspect, ready to fire. While this procedure is safer for the oflicer, it obviously would, under many circumstances, lead to extremely poor public relations when the suspect is an innocent citizen. Thus, if the officer is to approach a suspect with a drawn revolver, the weapon must be concealed in some manner.

A number of combination flashlights and concealed weapons have been suggested. However, in each case, the weapon does not comprise an ordinary revolver, but, rather, comprises a specially designed hidden barrel, receiver, firing pin and trigger mechanism. Such devices are costly and, because the mechanisms are new, unusual and unproven, they do not receive police acceptance. The police officer, whose life depends upon the sure operation of his weapon, ordinarily will depend upon only a well-known, proven, police revolver.

Therefore, it is among the objects and advantages of my invention to provide a concealed weapon simulating a spotlight and storage battery.

Another object of my invention is to provide a concealed weapon employing an ordinary, well-known and accepted police, snub-nosed revolver seated within a housing which is made to appear like a spotlight and storage battery.

A further object of my invention is to provide a concealed weapon employing a revolver enclosed within a housing having a pistol grip or handle.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a concealed Weapon in which the hand on the handle of the housing is positioned so that the trigger finger can actuate the trigger of the pistol through an opening in the housing.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a concealed weapon in which the barrel of a pistol enclosed within a housing is covered with a thin piece of material which blends with the covering of the housing.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a concealed weapon in which a spotlight is seated within a housing enclosing a pistol, the spotlight pointing in a direction generally parallel to the barrel of the pistol.

A further object of my invention is to provide a concealed weapon simulating a spotlight and storage battery which stands upright on a flat surface.

These objects and advantages as well as other objects and advantages my be achieved by my invention, one embodiment of which is illustrated in the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of my concealed weapon showing a hand in broken lines gripping the handle on the housing;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of my concealed weapon with the housing opened;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevational view thereof.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, my concealed weapon comprises a pair of complementary shells 11 and 12. Each shell, 11 and 12, is provided with a cavity, respectively 13 and 14, shaped to closely conform to a police snub-nosed revolver and dimension to half of the thickness thereof. The faces of the shells 11 and 12 on the side of the cavity are flat.

The shells 11 and 12 are secured together at their top by hinges 15 and 16. When the shells 11 and 12 are brought together, face to face, with the cavities 13 and 14 opposing each other, a chamber is defined for a pistol which chamber closely conforms to the shape and dimension of the pistol thereby securing it firmly in place. A catch 17 may be provided to secure the shells 11 and 12 together.

Each shell 11 and 12 is provided with a handle respectively 18 and 19. The bottom 20, 21 of the handles 18 and 19 respectively are flat and co-planar with the bottom 22 and 23 of the shells 11 and 12 respectively. Thus, when the shells 11 and 12 are secured together with the catch 17 the respective bottoms 20, 21, 22 and 23 define a co-planar flat supporting surface upon which the housing defined thereby may stand.

Shell '11 is provided wtih an integral, generally elongated rectangular top portion 24. The top portion 24 is provided with a transverse bore 25 which extends from the front 26 to the rear 27 thereof. An ordinary flashlight 28 is seated within the bore 25 with the bulb and lens 29 thereof extending beyond the front 26 of the shells 11 and 12. The flashlight 28 is provided with a pair of wires 30 which extend through shell 11 to a switch 31.

In operation, a snub-nosed revolver is seated in the cavity 13 of shell 11 and shell 12 hingedly brought down on top thereof and secured to shell 11 by catch 17. The revolver is thus, securely positioned within the chamber defined by cavities 13 and 14 of shells 11 and 12 which collectively define a hollow housing. While I have shown and described cavities 13 and 14 as shaped and dimensioned to the revolver, the cavities may be shaped and dimension in other fashions if means are provided to securely position the pistol therein with the barrel extending generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the flashlight 28. Of course, the handle of the pistol should extend downwardly into the handle 18 and 19 of the respective shells 11 and 12.

Shell 11 is provided with a suitable opening 32 adjacent to the trigger of the pistol when seated within the respective cavities 13 and 14. The opening 32 may take the form of a cross-slit in a fabric or plastic covering for the shells 11 and 12. Optionally, however, a trap door or plain opening may be provided. In addition, shell 12 may also be provided with an opening 32 (shown in dotted lines) for a left-handed person.

The end of the barrel of the revolver is obscured by a suitable external covering of fabric or plastic extending over the front 26 of the respective shells 11 and 12. Thus, the suspect will not observe that a weapon is concealed within the housing defined by the shells 11 and 12.

While I have shown a simple flashlight in a bore 25 in the top of shell 11, more complex arrangements may be provided with a swivel lens and lights on the rear of the flashlight. However, it is essential that the flashlight be so positioned that it can shine in a direction generally parallel to the barrel of the revolver when seated within the said cavities. In this fashion, the police officer may approach a suspect with the hand on the pistol grip of the housing and his finger extending through the opening 32 to rest upon the trigger of the revolver seated within the housing. At the same time, the flashlight may be switched on so that the oflicer can better observe the suspect. The suspect will be totally unaware of the fact that a pistol is pointing at him and that the police officer has his finger actually on the trigger.

In addition, since the respective bottoms 20, 21 of the handles 18 and 19 and 22, 23 of the remainder of the shells 11 and 12 define a co-planar flat surface, the housing define-d thereby will stand upright. Thus, the flashlight appears to be nothing more than an ordinary spotlight, and storage battery with a pistol grip handle.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention. The component parts have been shown and described. They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similar function; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for the said components and may have actually been known or invented before the present invention; these substitutes are contemplated as being within the scope of the appended claims, although they are not specifically catalogued herein.

I claim:

1. A concealed Weapon comprising,

(a) a housing having an internal cavity at least one portion of such cavity communicating with the exterior of the housing to define an opening, the cavity being adapted to receive, tightly seat and completely conceal an ordinary separate pistol having a barrel, a receiver, a firing pin, trigger mechanism and a handle grip, the barrel of the pistol being generally aligned with the said opening,

(b) a closure over the opening easily penetrable by a bullet fired from the pistol,

(c) a light source, which projects a beam of light in the direction of the barrel of the pistol, seated on the housing, and

(d) means for permitting operation of the trigger of the pistol from without the housing.

2. A concealed weapon comprising,

(a) the structure in accordance with claim 1 and,

(b) a handle on the housing, a portion of the cavity extending into the handle,

() the said portion of the cavity receiving and seating a handle grip of the pistol in the cavity.

3. A concealed weapon comprising,

(a) the structure in accordance with claim 2 in which,

(b) the cavity is shaped and dimensioned to closely conform to the pistol, the Walls of the cavity engaging the pistol to tightly secure the same in place.

4. A concealed weapon comprising,

(a) the structure in accordance with claim 2,

(b) a flat bottom on the housing,

(c) a fiat bottom on the handle coplanar with the fiat bottom of the housing whereby the housing will stand upright when resting on the said bottoms.

5. A concealed weapon comprising,

(a) the structure in accordance with claim 3,

(b) a pair of trigger openings in the housing communicating with the cavity opposite the trigger of the pistol,

(c) a closure on each opening easily penetrable by a finger.

6. A concealed weapon comprising,

(a) the structure in accordance with claim 1, in which,

(b) the housing is defined by a pair of shells each having an open cavity in one face which when the shells are joined together face to face collectively define the cavity which houses the pistol,

(c) the cavity in the combined shells being divided generally along a plane parallel to a plane extending parallel to barrel and handle of the pistol.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 955,237 4/1910 WestCott et a1. 421.9 1,420,520 6/1922 Cervenka 42-1 1,451,600 7/1923 Cottrell 2406.41 1,557,805 10/1925 Cottrell 240-641 1,784,563 12/1930 Westlund 421.8 2,056,975 10/1936 Michal 42-1 2,108,475 2/1938 Cooper 2406.41 2,625,764 1/1953 OBrien et a1. 421.6 2,942,603 6/ 1960 Geyer 42-1 3,026,642 3/1962 Ryan 421.8 3,307,755 3/1967 Lentz 421 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

45 T. H. WEBB, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CONCEALED WEAPON COMPRISING, (A) A HOUSING HAVING AN INTERNAL CAVITY AT LEAST ONE PORTION OF SUCH CAVITY COMMUNICATING WITH THE EXTERIOR OF THE HOUSING TO DEFINE AN OPENING, THE CAVITY BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE, TIGHTLY SEAT AND COMPLETELY CONCEAL AN ORDINARY SEPARATE PISTOL HAVING A BARREL, A RECEIVER, A FIRING PIN, TRIGGER MECHANISM AND A HANDLE GRIP, THE BARREL OF THE PISTOL BEING GENERALLY ALIGNED WITH THE SAID OPENING, (B) A CLOSURE OVER THE OPENING EASILY PENETRABLE BY A BULLET FIRED FROM THE PISTOL, 